A few days remain to comment on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ guidelines for the use of hair testing in federal workplace drug testing programs.
The notice of guidelines was published in the Federal Register on Sept. 10. Comments can be submitted by going to the Regulations.gov website and entering Docket No. SAMHSA-2020-0001-0002. The comment period is open through Monday, Nov. 9.
The guidelines will allow federal executive branch agencies to collect and test a hair specimen as part of their drug testing programs with the limitation that hair specimens be used for pre-employment and random testing.
However, a federal agency choosing to test hair specimens must authorize collection and testing of at least one other specimen type, such as urine, that is authorized under the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs. In addition, the agency must provide procedures for how the alternate specimen can be used “in the event that a donor is unable to provide a sufficient amount of hair for faith-based or medical reasons, or due to an insufficient amount or length of hair.”
While HHS has issued guidelines, FMCSA will still have to go through a rulemaking process before they could apply the guidelines to truck drivers.
Urinalysis satisfies the current drug and alcohol testing requirements by the FMCSA.
However, many large fleets require their employees to undergo hair and urine detection of drug and alcohol use.
“The HHS guidelines make it clear that hair testing should not be used exclusively for federal workplace drug testing programs,” said Jay Grimes, OOIDA’s director of federal affairs. “The guidelines acknowledge the concerns OOIDA and others have shared regarding hair testing, including color and texture bias, higher costs, faith-based and medical reasons, or simply having an insufficient amount of hair. Given these issues and the lack of scientific evidence that hair testing will reduce crashes, we will continue opposing the pursuit of any hair testing mandates.”
According to HHS, the “two-test approach is intended to protect federal workers from issues that have been identified as limitations of hair testing.”
As of Nov. 6, HHS had received 146 comments on the proposal through the Regulations.gov website. LL
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Hair testing guideline comments due Nov. 9 - Land Line - Land Line Media"
Post a Comment